Slitting and winding machine



y 19349 J. A. CAMERON SLITTING AND WINDING MACHINE Filed March 28, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet l July 24, 1934. J, A. CAMERON SLITTING AND WINDING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 28, 1950 Z 0 t M 0 v m a July 24, 1934. J. CAMERON 1,967,922

SLITTING AND WINDING MACHINE Filed March 28, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 N H W] gwocutoz July 24, 1934. J. A. CAMERON SLITTING AND WINDING MACHINE Filed March 28, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 avwemtoz Ja m @51 A elf Emm /cab,

Patented July 24, 1934 UNITED STATES SLITTING AND WINDING MACHINE James A. Cameron, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Cameron Machine Company, Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 28,

16 Claims.

This invention relates generally to slitting and winding machines, and has for its main object and feature the provision of a structure in which the slitting, coil-separating, Winding and counterweighting means are interrelated or coordinated in such a harmonious manner'as to render them mutually helpful factors, rather than somewhat adverse groups of elements opposing each other to control the paper or other flexible material,

0 and to accomplish this in a machine more simple, rugged and speedier than has heretofore been available.

In the accompanying drawings the invention is disclosed in a concrete and preferred form in which Fig. 1 is a side view in elevation, with parts broken away and in section, of a slitting and winding machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of some of the parts shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view substantially on the plane of line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1, with parts broken away and in section, looking in the direction of arrow 4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a detail plan view, partly in section, of the two winding drums;

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view substantially on the plane of line 6-6 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional view substantially on the plane of line '7-7 of Fig. 5.

The main elements of the machine are as follows: l and 2 indicate two surface-winding drums spaced apart and rotatable in the same direction 85 to support, in the valley between them, wound flexible material 3. 4 indicates a winding shaft to receive wound material in the valley between the drums, and 5 is the riding roller which extends across the wound material. Both the winding shaft and the riding roller are displaceable in an upward direction by the accumulation of wound material on the winding shaft. The riding roller may or may not be positively driven. 6 is a counterweight for the rewinding shaft and 'l and 8 are counterweights for the riding roller. Score-cut slitting means are indicated at 9, and 10 denotes a web of flexible material that is suitably guided, in the present instance by roller 11, to drum 2, said web passing here between drum 2 and slitters 9, thence to drum 1 and par-- 3 tially around the latter to the wound material.

It has long been recognized that an interrelation exists between the slitting and winding means, in that surface-winding means tend to 55 exert an equal pull laterally on the web which 1930, Serial No. 439,577

facilitates accurate slitting, and conversely that the score-cut method of slitting tends to maintain the slitted web sections in the same plane, owing to the absence of overlapping shears which distort the sections out of the plane of severance, and therefore facilitates accurate winding. This interrelation, as .indicated in the drawings, is here preserved and maintained. Owing to the increase in the widths of webs, in the size and weight of the wound material and of the moving parts of the machine, and in the speed of operation required in modern mills, new difficulties have emerged that urgently call for solution. This invention aims to deal with such difficulties.

Having in mind speed, dependability and convenience of operation as well as ruggedness and simplicity of machine structure, it has been found necessary, in order to attain the fulfillment of these requirements, to coordinate with the score-cut slitting and surface-winding system one or more other factors of construction and operation. For instance, when operating on webs of extra wide width at high speed, it has been found necessary to make provision for insuring steadiness of the slitter backing-roll which is here preferably one of the two winding drums to thereby obtain not only a steady revolution of the wound coils at high speed as they rest on the surface of the winding drums but also to minimize vibration in the combined slitter backing-roll and winding drum. The winding drums extend across the machine and have, at high speed, a tendency to vibrate, a condition that becomes especially pronounced in machines that act on wide webs. If one of the winding drums constitutes a backing roll, this vibration causes the score-cut slitters, at times, to set up a corresponding vibration or chattering which interferes with their work and is apt to damage the edges of the slitting wheels, thereby adversely af-. fecting the slitting operation. I have found that, by locating the drum that acts as a backing-roll at a slightly lower level than the other drum and by arranging inclined upright guides on which the winding shaft carriage moves as it rises, said backing-roll will increasingly sustain the load of the wound flexible material as it accumulates and this will tend to minimize vibration and improve the slitting action. This feature does not merely perform the function of the construction shown in Patent No. 1,719,830 in which a similar arrangement of the drums is utilized to keep the wound material from jumping out of the machine, because in that patent the scorecut slitters do not act against the drum located 10 at the lower level. In the present construction a new function (lessening the vibration of a backing-roll) as well as the old function (keeping the wound material from jumping out of the machine) is obtained. It may be added here, that the weight of the riding roller also assists in minimizing vibration of the backing roll, and this is especially true in the construction here described because the counterweighting mechanism of the riding roller can be made to so act, if desired, as to initially increase the normal weight of said riding roller, that is, at the time when but little wound material has been accumulated on the winding shaft, the weight of said riding roller being thereafter lessened by an automatic displacement thereof that transforms it from an overweight into a counterweight. It is not essential, however, that this initial overweight of the riding roller should always be utilized to compensate for the disproportion in weight of the roll. of wound material at the start and near the finish of the winding operation, because the pressure of the riding roller, especially in wide machines having large drum diameters, is more effective when the core or winding shaft is down in the valley between the drums where it has a proportionately greater steadying effect on the drums than when the roll of material has grown to such size that it has climbed up out of the deeper portion of the valley and is supported more nearly under its center of gravity by the two drums. I have found that, as shown in Reissue Patent No. 16,196, the most practicable location for the slitting means is on the rear drum (2), so called because it is in rear of the drum nearest the operator, which nearest drum is commonly called the front drum. Here the vibration is minimized by the fact that the stress and impacts of the web under tension due to the retarding brake on the mill roll, is dealt with by the front winding drum (1) around which the slitted sections pass in their path to the wound coils (3), leaving the rear or combined slitting and winding drum free of these strains. However, with due allowance for the advantages of this location of the slitting elements with respect to the slitting and winding operations, this construction is not sufiicient in itself, under all circumstances, to cope with all of the increasing difficulties of slitting and rollwinding requirements in machines running at the speeds necessary in modern paper making or paper converting processes, and this is especially so where not only the speed element is an in creasingly difficult factor to cope with, but also where it is coupled with the factor of extra wide width of web or where an extra large number of slitting units are employed. In accordance with the above, drum 2 constitutes a combined surface winding drum and backing-roll and is preferably located at a lower level than drum 1. Furthermore, winding shaft 4 is supported by a carriage 12 that has slides engaging upright but inclined guides 13 so that as the winding shaft rises the load of accumulated material 3 is sustained fully as much by drum 2 as by drum 1. Score-cut slitters 9 engage the underside of drum 2, which latter is provided with'a glass-hard surface. Riding roller 5 is supported in carriage 14 which carries a shaft 15 having pinions 16 to engage racks 17 on the framework whereby said riding roller is kept parallel to the winding shaft. 18 represents flexible connections, attached to carriage 14, that pass over sprockets or rotatable members 19, said connections 18 havmamas ing counter-weights 7, sliding on ways 20, at their free ends. In addition, connections 18 also carry weights 8 that initially, i. e. at the start of the winding operation, tend to increase the weight of the riding roller and its carriage, but which, as the winding operation progresses, move over the top of sprockets 19 and tend to lessen the weight of said riding roller and carriage. The effect of this is to press the winding shaft against drum 2 initially by means of the riding roller and weights 8 and then, as the wound material accumulates, to substitute the weight of the latter in place of weights 8. This must .not be confused with the disclosure in Patent No. 1,707,047 where weights similar to 8 are merely used to control the hardness of the wound material, because, in the present instance, an additional function is obtained, viz: lessening of vibration of drum 2. Of course, all the advantages of the construction disclosed in Patent No. 1,707,047 are also obtained, that is: weights 8 may be of different sizes and are readily removable, as disclosed in said patent, so that others may be substituted, and the displacement of the weights need not be in proportion to the increase in diameter of the wound material but may be in a different ratio. In the present case, the counterweighting mechanism of the winding shaft is constructed as follows: winding shaft carriage 12 is attached to endless chain or flexible. connection 21 that passes over sprocket 22 and idlers 23 and 24. Sprocket 22 is mounted on shaft 25 which carries an eccentric counterweight supporting means or guide 26 to which is attached a flexible connection 27 that carries counterweight 6. to conformation of guide 26, weight 6 is near center of shaft 25 at the beginning of the winding operation but that, as material accumulates on winding shaft 4 and the latter rises, shaft 25 is turned to thereby bring weight 6 further away from said shaft 25 thereby increasing the leverage and consequently the counterweighting action of weight 6. The counterweighting means for the winding shaft in the present case, therefore differs from the counterweighting means of the riding roller in that weight 6 does not initially increase the normal weight of the winding shaft but simply gives an increasing counterweighting action to compensate for the accumu lation of wound material on the winding shaft. The conformation of guide 26 may be such that the compensating action is in direct proportion to the increase in diameter of the wound material or it may be in some other ratio.. It must be pointed out here, however, that even if the increase in wound material is wholly neutralized by weight 6, drum 2 will nevertheless sustain more and more of the load of the winding shaft carriage, as the diameter of the wound material grows, and also of such pressure as the riding roller and its carriage exert. Any suitable means may be used to manually lift or lower the winding shaft and riding roller. In the present instance, two concentric handwheels 28 and 29 together with suitable connections are used. As shown, bushing 30 of handwheel 28 carries a sprocket pinion 31 from which extends a sprocket chain 32 trained over large sprocket 33 and adjustable tension sprocket 34, and sprocket 33 moves with a pinion 35 that meshes with spur gear 36 on the same shaft as sprocket 19. Therefore, by turning handwheel 28 in one direction or the other, the riding roller may be lifted or lowered. Handwheel 29 has a shaft 37 that ex- It will be seen that, owingbut s these devices are well understood in s unnecessary to go into details. v

he winding drum which acts as a breast ro l for e web will be subjected to severe and varying across the length and will flex to some extent in response to an increase or decrease of pressure exerted by the web and to the resistance of the machinery that supplies said web. For this and other reasons such combined breas roll and winding drum is less suit-. as a backing-roll for the slitting means and this is especially so in machines required for high speed and wide webs. in the present construction therefore, slitters 9 do not act against drum 1 but against drum 2, and the latter is relieved as much as possible of the strain exerted by web 19, said web being, to that end, led to the underside of drum 2 and contacts with the latter over a very short arc. Said web is thereafter led to the underside of drum 1 and partially around the latter to the wound material. The strain of the web is therefore taken up by the combined winding drum and breast roll 1. If now coil-separating grooves, as 41, are formed in the surface of drum 1, the strain of the paper tends to cause to adhere more closely to said surface and to conform more readily to the grooves thereof, thereby preventing interweaving of adjacent slitted sections and facilitating separation of the coils, for the same reason the web is advanced more positively by virtue of the added friction contact with the web due to the presence of these grooves. Drum 1 therefore becomes a combined surfacewinding and coil-separating drum and breast roll, and the disadvantage of the strain of the web is transformed into a benefit. It is also to noted that the initially weighted riding roller assists the drawing action on the paper at the beginning of the winding operation. It is further to be pointed out that it would be disadvantageous to place the score-cutters against drum 1 not merely because of its vibration, but also because the score-cutters must coact with an ungrooved portion on the drum and this reduces the extent of the grooved surface and also seriously limits the flexibility of the machine because the score-cutters cannot be adjusted to any desired position to produce any desired width of slitted sections, but can be adjusted only to a few and previously determined positions. The character of the coil-separating grooves is fully disclosed in Patents Nos. 1,355,106 and 1,355,107 and need not be gone into here in detail except to say that the valleys and hills produced by the circumferentially extending grooves merge into each other gradually and without any abrupt corners so that the paper sinks into the hollows and thus reduces the width of the slitted sections.

For the purpose of supplementing the slitting operation performed by the slitting wheels 9, fingers or auxiliary blades 51 protruding into the path or trace of the line of slitting are provided to insure against the possibility of fibres of the material remaining unsevered in case slitter wheels 9 become unduly dull or inefiective, and for the further purpose of insuring a complete severance of the slit sections, so that when the sections pass to front drun. l for winding, they not cling together on. their edges and impair the action of the coil-separating grooves when used or render difdcult the severance of the coils in any case.

The gearing for driving the machine may be of any suitable type, for instance, a power shaft 42 may be pro ded having a gear is, intermediate the two drums, meshing with gears 44 on the drums. If desired, however, drum 1 need not be positively driven but may be rotated by friction of the wound material. This increases the tension on the paper and produces a very hard roll especially at the start of the winding operation. Gear on drum 1 is slidable, or removable, and therefore, at the will of the operator, said drum 1 may be frictiona'ly or positively driven. If it is desired to drive the riding roller, a bevel gear may be mounted to turn with gear 43, which bevel gear l5 meshes with a bevel pinion 46 on upright shaft 47. Upright shaft 4'5 carries a slidable bevel gear a8 that moves with the riding roll carriage and which meshes with bevel gear 49 on shaft 50 of the riding roller.

One of. the most elusive problems in slitting and winding is the relative surface speeds of the various instrumentalities that act on the flexible material. I find that the front drum or breast roll must not advance the web faster than the surface speed of the combined backing-roll and rear drum. The reason for this is that overpulling of the web by the front drum would cause the rear drum to resist the passage of the web in its path around the coils of wound material and tend to set up wrinkles in the outer convolutions thereof. Also, in tendmg to resist the revolution of the wound material at a speed comroensurate with the speed of the front drum, the rear drum would set up a combative relation to said front drum not only hostile to good slitting and winding but also expensive in power loss and wear due to unnecessary friction. On the other hand, if the surface speed of the combined rear drum and backing-roll is greatly in excess of the speed of travel of the web, then the frictionally driven score-cut slitting wheels will overpull the web and tend to tear the fibres thereof instead of cleaving them cleanly. It may therefore be set down as fundamental that the surface or peripheral speed of the combined breast roll and front drum must not be in excess of that of the combined backing-roll and rear drum, or, to state the proposition conversely, the rear drum must have a surface or peripheral speed at least equal to that of the front drum and somewhat greater than the speed of the web. Both drums (l and 2) may therefore rotate at the same surface speed, provided that the relative tractive efiect of the two drums with respect to the flexible material be such that enough slippage of the web occurs to render it certain that the surface speed of the rear drum is somewhat greater than the speed of travel of the web. However, as the wrap of the paper around drum 1 is greater than around drum 2, said drum 1 has greater tractive effect on the flexible material and controls the speed of travel of the paper to a greater extent than does drum 2, the result being that it is diificult to gauge the relative amount cf slippage of the paper with respect to the two drums and it is therefore preferable to rotate drum? at a slightly greater surface or peripheral speed than the peripheral speed of drum 1. Again, excessive slippage of the flexible material with respect to the drums must be avoided, as that would establish a speed relation between the elements in which the score-cutters would overpull the web and so produce the undesirable result previously noted. Such a condition might easily arise in cases where a very severe tension-strain, usually produced by a brake on the mill-roll shaft, is required because, in such cases, the tension-strain opposes the pulling action of the winding elements and frequently causes excessive slippage of the web. In other words, both excessive overpulling and slippage of the web must be avoided, and I therefore provide means to prevent such action from taking place. These means act to control the relative tractive effect of the winding drums upon the flexible material, and consist, in the present instance, of the very features previously described,

and thus a new interrelation between the elements springs into being. For I have found, that the feature of locating drum 1 somewhat above the level of drum 2 serves not merely to minimize vibration of drum 2 and to prevent the wound material from jumping out of the machine, but it also enables me to more definitely control the speed of the web with respect to the winding drums, because the tractive effect of winding drum 2 is thereby increased. I have also found that said tractive eifect may likewise be increased, and the speed of the web controlled, by properly weighting the winding shaft carriage and riding roller, especially by initially overweighting the riding roller. So likewise the employment of coil-separating grooves in drum 1 afiects the speed. of the web by reason of the flexible material adhering more closely to the drum, and so likewise if said drum 1 be rotated frictionally, instead of positively by gearing, the speed of the web will likewise be modified. It is not intended to convey, by the foregoing, that all of the features described need necessarily be employed in the same machine, but merely to point out that, whatever elements be omitted, the remaining elements cooperate harmoniously to control the speed of the flexible material.

The combination of two winding drums, one of which is grooved and is driven by friction of the material is not specifically claimed herein but forms the subject matter of another application Ser. No. 461,104 filed June 14, 1930.

I claim:

1. In a slitting and winding machine, two surface-winding drums spaced apart and rotatable in the same direction to support, in the valley between them, wound flexible material, one of said drums located at a somewhat lower level than the other and constituting a backing roll, a winding shaft, for the wound flexible material, in the valley between the drums, said winding shaft displaceable in an upward direction as wound material accumulates thereon, upright but inclined guides for the winding shaft to cause the load of the wound material to be increasingly sustained by that drumwhich is located at the lower level to thereby minimize vibration of said drum, and score-cut slitting means to engage the drum occupying the lower level.

2. In a slitting and winding machine, two surface-winding drums spaced apart and rotatable in the same direction to support, in the valley between them, wound flexible material, one of said drums located at a somewhat lower level than the other and constituting a backing roll and the other of said drums constituting a breast roll, a winding shaft, for the wound flexible material, in the valley between the drums, said winding shaft displaceable in an upward direction as wound material accumulates thereon, upright but inclined guides for the winding shaft to cause the load of the wound material to be increasingly sustained by that drum. which is located at the lower level to thereby minimize vibration of said drum, score-cut slitting means to engage the drum occupying the lower level, and means to guide a web of flexible material to the drum occupying the lower level, said web passing between said drum and the slitting means and thence to the underside of the other drum and partially around the latter to the wound material.

3. In a slitting and winding machine, a combined breast roll, coil-separating and surface winding drum, a combined backing roll and surface-winding drum, said drums being spaced apart, with the combined surface winding drum and backing roll located at a somewhat lower level than the other drum, and said drums rotatable in the same direction to support, in the valley between them, wound flexible material, a winding shaft, for the wound material, in the valley between the drums, said winding shaft displaceable in an upward direction as wound material accumulates thereon, upright but inclined guides for the winding shaft to cause the load of the wound material to be increasingly sustained by that drum which is located at the lower level to thereby minimize vibration of said drum, scorecut slitting means to engage the drum occupying the lower level, and means to guide a web of flexible material to the drum occupying the lower level, said web passing between said drum and the slitting means and thence to the underside of the other drum and partially around the latter to the wound material.

4. In a slitting and winding machine, two surface-winding drums spaced apart and rotatable in the same direction to support, in the, valley between them, wound flexible material, one of said drums located at a somewhat lower level than the other and constituting a backing roll, a winding shaft, for the wound flexible material, in the valley between the drums, said winding shaft displaceable in an upward direction as wound material accumulates thereon, upright but inclined guides for the winding shaft to cause the load of the wound material to be increasingly sustained by that drum which is located at the lower level to thereby minimize vibration of said drum, score-cut slitting means to engage the drum occupying the lower level, a riding roller above the wound material and displaceable in an upward direction upon an increase in the diameter of said material, and counterweighting means to initially overweight the riding roller and to thereafter, in response to the rise of the riding roller, counterweight said riding roller.

5. In a slitting and winding machine, two surface-winding drums spaced apart and rotatable in the same direction to support, in the valley between them, wound flem'ble material, one of said drums located at a soinewhatlower level than the other and constituting a backing roll and the other of said drums constituting a breast roll, a winding shaft, for the wound flexible material, in the valley between the drums, said winding shaft displaceable in an upward direction NED as wound material accumulates thereon, upright 1 5 bration of said drum, score-cut slitting means to engage the drum occupying the lower level, means to guide a web of flexible material to the drum occupying the lower level, said web passing between said drum and the slitting means and thence to the underside of the other drum and partially around the latter to the wound material, a riding roller above the wound material and displaceable in an upward direction upon an increase in the diameter of said material, and counterweighting means to initially overweight the riding roller and to thereafter, in response to the rise of the riding roller, counterweight said riding roller.

6. In a slitting and winding machine, a combined breast roll, coil-separating and surfacewinding drum, a combined backing roll and surface-winding drum, said drums being spaced apart, with the combined surface winding drum and backing roll located at a somewhat lower level than the other drum, and said drums rotatable in the same direction to support, in the valley between them, wound flexible material, a winding shaft, for the wound material, in the valley between the drums, said winding shaft displaceable in an upward direction as wound ma terial accumulates thereon, upright but inclined guides for the winding shaft to cause the load of the wound material to be increasingly sustained by that drum which is located at the lower level to thereby minimize vibration of said drum, scorecut slitting means to engage the drum occupying the lower level, means to guide a web of flexible material to the drum occupying the lower level, said web passing between said drum and the slitting means and thence to the underside of the other drum and partially around the latter to the wound material, a riding roller above the wound material and displaceable in an upward direction upon an increase in the diameter of said material, and counterweighting means to initially overweight the riding roller and to thereafter, in response to the rise of the riding roller, counterweight said riding roller.

'7. In a slitting and winding machine, a combined breast roll, coil-separating and surfacewinding drum having grooves in its surface to increase its tractive effect, a combined backing roll and surface-winding drum, said drums being spaced apart and rotatable in the same direction to support, in the valley between them, wound flexible material, score-cut slitting means to engage tne backing roll, and means to guide a web of flexible material to the backing roll, said web passing between the backing rolland the slitting means and thence to the underside of the breast roll and partially around the latter to the wound material.

8. In a winding machine, two surface-winding drums spaced apart and rotatable in the same direction to support, in the valley between them, wound flexible material, one of said drums having grooves in its surface to increase its tractive effect and constituting a breast roll, means to guide a web of flexible material to the underside of the other drum, said web thence passing to the underside of the breast roll and partially around the same to the wound material, a riding roller above the wound material and displaceable in an upward direction upon an increase in the diameter of said material, and counterweighting means to initially overweight the riding roller and to thereafter, in response to the rise of the riding roller, counterweight said riding roller.

9. In a slitting and winding machine, a combined breast roll, coil-separating and surfacewinding drum, a combined backing roll and surface-winding drum, said drums being spaced apart and rotatable in the same direction to support, in the valley between them, wound flexible material, score-cut slitting means to engage the backing roll, means to guide a web of flexible material to the backing roll, said web passing between the backing roll and the slitting means and thence to the underside of the breast roll and partially around the latter to the wound material, a riding roller above the wound material and displaceable in an upward direction upon an increase in the diameter of said material, and counterweighting means to initially overweight the riding roller and to thereafter, in response to the rise of the riding roller, counterweight said riding roller.

10. In a winding machine two surface winding drums spaced apart and rotatable in the same direction to support, in the valley between them, flexible material, one of said drums constituting a breast roll and having its upper surface above the level of the companion drum to thereby control the relative tractive effect of the drums, and said companion drum constituting a backing roll, score-cut slitting means to engage the backing roll, and means for driving the breast roll at a surface speed not greater than the speed of the other drum.

11. In a winding machine two surface winding drums spaced apart and rotatable in the same direction to support, in the valley between them,

flexible material, one of said drums constituting a breast roll and having its upper surface above the level of the companion drum, and said companion drum constituting abacking roll, means for driving the breast roll at a surface speed not greater than the speed of the backing roll, scorecut slitting means to engage the backing roll, a riding roller to press upon the upper surface of the wound material and to yield vertically as the wound material grows in diameter, and counterweighting means to initially overweight the riding roller and to thereafter, in response to the rise of the riding roller, counterweight said riding roller.

12. In a winding machine two surface winding drums spaced apart and rotatable in the same direction to support, in the valley between them, flexible material, one of said drums constituting a breast roll and having its upper surface above the level of the companion'drum to thereby control the relative tractive effect of the drums, and said companion drum constituting a backing roll, means for driving the breast roll at a surface speed not greater than the speed of the backing roll, score-cut slitting means to engage the backing roll, a winding shaft on which the flexible material is wound, and means for counterweighting said winding shaft gressively as the wound material increases in diameter.

13. In a winding machine; two surface winding drums spaced apart and rotatable in the same direction to support, in the valley between them, flexible material being wound, one of said drums constituting a breast roll and having a surface so grooved as to enhance the friction contact of its surface with the web, means for driving the combined breast roll and winding drum at a surface speed not greater than the surface speed of its companion drum, guide means to direct the web first into contact with the companion drum and then partially around the breast roll to the wound material, a riding and wound material proroller to press upon the upper surface of the 3513 rewound roll of material and to yield vertically as the wound material grows in diameter.

14. In a slitting and winding machine, two surface-winding drums spaced apart and rotatable in the same direction to support, in the valley between them, wound flexible material, one of said drums constituting a breast roll and the other constituting a backing-roll to cooperate with score-out =s1itting means, said breast roll having a greater tractive efiect upon the flexible material than the backing-roll and rotating at a peripheral speed not in excess of that of the backing-roll, and means to control the relative tractive efiect of the winding drums upon the flexible material.

15. In a slitting and winding machine, a combined breast roll and surface-winding drum, a combined backing-roll and surface-winding drum, said drums being spaced apart and rotatable in the same direction to support, in the valley between them, wound flexible material, and said backing-roll rotating at a peripheral speed at least equal to that of the breast roll, score-cut slitting means to engage the backingroll, means to guide a web of flexible material to the backing-roll, said web engaging said backing-roll over a relatively short arc and parsing eeaeaa between said backing-roll and slitting means, thence passing to the underside of the breast roll and partially around the latter and thence over the backing-roll to the wound material, and means to control the relative tractive effect of the winding drums upon the flexible material.

16. In a slitting and winding machine, a combined breast roll and surface-winding drum, a combined backing roll and surface-winding drum, said drums being spaced apart and rotatable in the same direction to support, in the valley between them, wound flexible material, and said backing-roll rotating at a peripheral speed at least equal to that of the breast roll, score-cut slitting means to engage the backingroll, means to guide a web of flexible material to the backing-roll, said web engaging said backingroll over a relatively short are and passing between said backing-roll and slitting means, thence passing to the underside of the breast roll and partially around the latter and thence over the backing-roll to the wound material, and means associated with the drums to prevent both excessive slippage and overpulling of the flexible material by the winding drums.

JAMES A. CAMERON. 

